


Seven Days

by AsreonInfusion



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 07:48:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2221203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsreonInfusion/pseuds/AsreonInfusion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud has a week of leave to get away from ShinRa. He had been looking forward to a break away from everything, until his holiday was unceremoniously infringed upon by one particularly over-friendly SOLDIER. But maybe having Zack Fair along with him isn't so bad after all. [Complete.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

> I think this thing can best be described as a holiday fic, in many respects. It is a fic about a holiday. I wrote it while I was on holiday (my holiday was also for seven days; I wrote each day/chapter on the corresponding day as a fun little tie-in. The one-chapter-per-day thing is also why the chapters are all pretty short.) Finally, the fic is the sort of mindless fluffy drivel that would be good to read while one was on holiday and not wanting to think too hard about anything. So yes. Holiday fic.

**DAY ONE**

There was a ShinRa vehicle on the road behind him.

Cloud shrugged his pack a littler higher on his back, as if he could hide himself behind it. (Not unthinkable, since it was almost the same size as him.) It was his week of summer leave, the only real time off he'd had in months of being in the infantry, and he wanted nothing to do with ShinRa for the duration of his time off.

It was probably a coincidence anyway. There were precious few roads out of Midgar; while most of the traffic took the north or west roads out towards Kalm, it wasn't as though it was unusual for a vehicle to be on the south route either. It could easily be a unit heading to the mountains for the training exercise. Cloud had done that several times in the last month alone.

The truck pulled to a halt several meters behind Cloud, and Cloud felt his stomach sink. What did they want?

He resolutely kept walking, not looking back. He wasn't in uniform and he wasn't doing anything wrong, damnit.

Cloud heard the metallic rap of someone knocking on the truck's hood, and then it pulled away again. It overtook Cloud with a spray of dust and dirt.

Cloud coughed and glowered ineffectually at the receding vehicle. Had that been necessary? ShinRa was full of dicks. But at least they were gone; for a moment he'd been worried that someone had been sent to haul him back to headquarters. Leave had been cancelled? Emergency mission? He'd fucked up somehow and was going to be dragged back and punished with guard duty for the whole week? He was just being paranoid.

"Cloud! Hey, Cloud! Strife!"

_Shit_. Cloud kept walking, and the footsteps behind from behind sped up to catch him.

"I know you can hear me, dumbass. You see other Clouds around here?"

The voice sounded familiar, and recognition clicked the second Cloud saw him. Zack Fair, First Class SOLDIER. Still in uniform and all. Cloud had to stop walking then otherwise he would have run straight into Zack, who had taken it upon himself to stand right in Cloud's path, arms crossed.

"Uhm," Cloud said intelligently.

"So. What exactly are you doing?" Zack asked.

Cloud blinked, not sure what the protocol was in this situation. He was off duty, but Zack was still in uniform, so maybe he wasn't? It wasn't like anyone else was around, though. Knowing what he did of Zack from the several missions they'd had together, he would probably be more offended if Cloud tried to salute than if he didn't.

He decided to simply try answering the question. "Walking?" Cloud offered. He thought that was fairly obvious.

Zack wrinkled his nose and looked around. "Here? You chose a weird spot for a stroll, Spiky."

The wastelands that surrounded Midgar were not a pleasant sight, nor indeed pleasant to walk in. As Cloud was well aware, having been doing so for the last couple of hours. "I'm heading to the mountains. There's some good hiking trails there. What are  _you_  doing?"

Zack looked at him dubiously. "I came to find you. One of the guys in your unit said you'd just walked off into the wastelands all on your own. I was worried."

Cloud wasn't sure whether to be flattered or mortified that anyone was that concerned about him. Concerned enough to apparently come looking for him.

"Oh. Well. It's just that I'm on leave this week. It's too far to get back home for such a short time, but I didn't want to just stay in Midgar doing nothing. So I decided to take a hiking holiday. That's all."

"By yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Did you tell anyone where you were going?"

"No..."

Zack frowned. "Thaaaat doesn't sound very safe. What if something happened to you?"

"They'd assume I'd deserted and no one would really notice or care that I was gone?" The words came out before Cloud really considered his answer. He hadn't meant to be quite so bluntly truthful.

Zack was still standing in his way and giving him that concerned little frown, and Cloud didn't quite know how to deal with it. He ducked his head.

"So, uhm. I'd better keep going. I've got a pretty long way to go."

Cloud dodged around Zack and started walking southwards again. He wasn't surprised when Zack took up pace alongside him.

"Cloud! I'm serious. There's monsters and shit out here. What if you got ambushed? What if you got buried under a landslide? What if a tree fell on you?"

Cloud shrugged. "I'd be dead?"

"Your self-preservation instincts need work." Zack said dryly. He crossed his arms. "Well, I can't just let you go wandering out into the middle of nowhere by yourself like this."

A look horror crossed Cloud's face. "Hell no. You're not dragging me back."

"Nope. I'm coming with you."

That stopped Cloud in his tracks. "What?"

"I'm coming with you," Zack repeated.

"Aren't you on duty?"

"Nah. I just hitched a lift with those guys. I've got the week off too."

Cloud was skeptical. Especially since Zack was still in full uniform, though sans sword. "...do you have any water? Food? Change of clothes? Anything for shelter?"

"Nope," Zack admittedly happily.

"Alright, that's just not fair. How come you're allowed to waltz off into the wilderness completely unplanned and unprepared, yet I know exactly what I'm doing and get in trouble just because I didn't mention it to anyone? Who would I have told anyway? No one gives a shit."

Zack smiled, the same gorgeous, open smile he'd given Cloud when they first met. "I get away with it because I'm Zack Fair."

Cloud snorted. "You can't come. I only packed enough food for myself."

"C'mon, Cloud. I'll hunt us down some extra food or whatever."

Cloud lengthened his strides, as if trying to walk away. The gesture was futile since Zack easily kept up.

"Anyway, you can't stop me following you," Zack continued.

"That just sounds stalkerish."

Zack laughed.

"You still can't come."

"Aw, Cloud. Why not?"

Cloud fidgeted with the straps of his pack. "It's just..." Gaia, he felt bad saying it. Zack was always so nice to him. They'd been on missions together and even hung out a few times before, and they were probably almost friends. Would have been friends, if Cloud allowed himself to accept that maybe friends were something he could actually have.

"Well, I was kinda aiming for some alone time. Y'know.  _Alone_. I'm stuck with my unit pretty much twenty four seven, seven days a week. I mean, they're alright guys, but it's just so _draining_  having to constantly deal with people and never having any privacy. I was looking forward to a break from forced social interaction."

"Yeah, I remember that much of being a cadet. The barracks are shit for privacy." Zack stopped to ponder this. "So you came all the way out here just so you could jack off somewhere private? That's dedication, man."

Cloud spluttered, blushing furiously. "That was  _not_ \- I will hit you," he threatened.

Zack laughed, free and full-bodied. His laugh occasionally erupted into a snort as well. It was infectious sort of laugh, and Cloud could almost have been charmed by it if he wasn't still trying to be annoyed.

"I kid, I kid," Zack conceded, palms raised in surrender. "But seriously, I'm still not comfortable with letting you go off into a potentially dangerous situation with no back up."

"You're a mother hen," Cloud realised.

"I am?"

"You are."

Zack scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Huh. That's a new one."

Cloud just shook his head. "Alright, fine," he gave in. "Since I get the feeling I can't get rid of you either way, you can come." Zack beamed, and Cloud quickly continued. "With conditions. I came out here for a bit of peace and quiet for once, so no talking unless I say something first."

Zack looked physically pained by that demand. "But Cloudy-!"

"And you'll have to sort out your own shelter. All I have is one of ShinRa's standard two man tents, and you know what those are like. Two hobbits, maybe, two men, not a chance."

"Yessir," Zack agreed with a lopsided grin.

Cloud straightened up at that, despite Zack's teasing tone. He realised he'd just been bossing around a SOLDIER and superior officer... not to mention pretty much telling him to go away, if phrased slightly more tactfully. Zack didn't seem at all bothered by what must have been a breach in etiquette, if not strictly protocol since they were both off duty.

Zack stuck his hand in his pockets, falling back so he was beside but now slightly behind Cloud, letting him take the lead. He started whistling and Cloud looked back to raise an eyebrow at him. From the grin Zack gave him, Cloud suspected he was purposefully trying to be irritating.

The enforced silence lasted about two minutes, tops.

"So... where are we going?" Zack asked.

Cloud sighed, resigned. He pointed straight ahead of them, at the looming peaks that formed the mountain range to the south of Midgar. Some of them were still dotted with patches of snow, even in August. "There."


	2. Day Two

**DAY TWO**

The day started off bright and fine, which always made life easier when the day also started with packing down a tent. Cloud hadn't really meant for Zack to sleep outside, but as soon as they had chosen a place to set up camp Zack was off collecting branches and building himself a small lean-to. It was cute, in a way, like a kid building a sandcastle and being immensely proud of the slightly lopsided result. The night had been fine as well, a few clouds but not a drop of rain, so Zack's shelter building skills hadn't been tested.

His idea of breaking camp was to tear down his lean-to and toss all the branches off in random directions.

Cloud ducked, then heaved his pack onto his back.

"Where to, boss man?" Zack asked, grinning. He was one of those people who didn't need coffee in the morning.

They had struck camp in a small clearing amongst the brushy forest that lined the foot of the mountains. Three paths led away; the one to the north-west that they had entered on, one to the east meandering through the forest, and the last to the south, cut steeply across the mountainside. Cloud led them down - or more accurately, up - the south path.

The route was as winding as it was steep, and soon declined into something that was barely discernible as a path at all. Other thin trails left by livestock, or maybe deer, occasionally bisected their own. Zack couldn't tell the difference between them.

"Hey, do you have a map or something?" Zack wondered. He hadn't seen Cloud look at one at any point, but he seemed confident enough about where he was going.

"No."

"So, do you walk this way a lot then?"

Cloud gave Zack a curious glance. "Never been this way before. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering how on earth you know where you're going."

He huffed a short laugh. "The trail is marked. Did you not notice?" Cloud pointed at something that seemed to be a dull red blob on a stone. "It's the red arrows."

"I didn't notice those at all," Zack admitted solemnly. "They don't exactly... pop out at you. What happens if we lose the trail?"

Cloud shrugged, with some difficulty given the size of his pack. "Backtrack until we find it? Or just take a guess and keep going in the right sort of direction."

"Huh. I guess you must have a pretty good sense of direction then, to get away with doing that."

Cloud turned to look Zack squarely in the eye. "My sense of direction is terrible."

"Ha, haha. Ha. Y'know, I should introduce you to Sephiroth sometime. I think you two would get along. You have the same sense of humour."

Cloud just looked puzzled by this statement (and mildly alarmed), so Zack elaborated.

"See, Seph's idea of humour is to say something ridiculous, like, completely out there, but he's totally serious while he says it so you can't even tell that's he's joking. And then he just stares at you with this amused little smirk while you flounder around trying to figure out if he's kidding or not. Which is kinda like what you just did. 'Cause you were joking, right?"

Cloud just smiled and carried on walking.

Zack had initially eyed their route with some trepidation, and after several hours felt his wariness had been justified. They didn't seem to be getting very far. Their pace was slow - though to be fair, Cloud was carrying a pack almost the same size as him, going uphill all the way. Zack had offered to take it for him several times, but had been shot down with a glare each time.

"I can carry my own burdens," Cloud had insisted.

He didn't complain and he didn't stop, even though Zack could see that Cloud was sweating and trembling. He just moved more slowly than usual.

After reaching what Cloud informed him was a thousand metres above sea level, even Zack's SOLDIER stamina was feeling the strain.

Along the way up the landscape had changed from forest to low bracken and jutting rock. It was just as well the sun was still out and glaring bright, otherwise the wind would have been uncomfortably chill. As they were though, pink with exertion, it was incredibly refreshing.

"Mountains," Zack groaned, flopping to the ground while Cloud tossed him a protein bar for lunch. "Why did you have to choose a mountain?"

Cloud dug out another protein bar for himself and tucked in ravenously. "You're forgetting where I come from," he answered dryly between bites. "Mountains are kind of a thing in Nibelheim."

"You people are crazy. Did you used to go hiking in the mountains there as well?"

Cloud nodded. "Pretty often, yeah. All the other kids in the village were... well, I didn't get along with them. So I liked to get away from them when I could."

"Kids? How old are we talking here?"

"Nine? Ten?" Cloud guessed, shrugging.

Zack sat up straighter, turning to stare at him. "Wait. You were wandering around the Nibel mountains when you were ten? By  _yourself?_ "

Cloud confirmed this.

No wonder he had seemed so bemused by Zack's insistence to follow him for safety reasons. This was a cakewalk comparatively.

Zack winced in retrospective concern. "Don't you guys have, like, dragons in those mountains? And Nibel wolves everywhere?"

"Yeah. I've met both. And stop giving me that look. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Sure. I'm just wondering  _how_."

"Oh, come on, like you didn't do stupid shit when you were younger. When I encountered the dragon I just ran and hid anyway. I had to kill a couple of wolves though."

"Please tell me you were armed, at least."

"Of course, moron. I had..." Cloud paused to dig through the top of his pack. He came out with a small bushcraft knife, which he offered to Zack. "Not this one exactly, obviously. But I always take something similar whenever I go walking."

Zack stared for a very long time. "Cloud... you took down a Nibel wolf with a glorified kitchen knife. When you were  _ten_. How the  _hell_  are you not in SOLDIER yet?"

Cloud had to turn away, hiding his blush and a too-wide smile at the emphatic compliment.

He ended lunch rather brusquely after that, but the conversation seemed to have opened the floodgates. It was a further hour up to the summit from where they had stopped, and Zack spent the majority of that time confirming that he had, in fact, also done dumb shit as a kid. A lot of dumb shit, most of which seemed to involve Touch Me frogs. Cloud even offered up a tale or two of his own when Zack paused for breath.

Despite his misgivings, Cloud found it was really rather nice to have someone to talk to. Zack made conversation flow easily, even with Cloud's lack of skill in the area. And when silence did fall in only felt natural, not awkward as he had feared.

Cloud let out a small breath of relief when the path evened out to a small plateau. A cairn just a little way south and slightly eastwards marked the summit, and beyond that the ridge dropped away again.

"Woah," Zack announced from behind him. The entire south of the continent lay stretched out in front of them in shades of green and grey. It was a pretty impressive sight. A whole lot nicer than the dead grunge of Midgar and the wastelands that made up the view to the north.

The mountain range was skirted by plains to the south, a wide river meandering through them. To the west lay thick patches of forest, cradled by a curved arm of hills. Beyond that they could just about see the glint of the ocean in the distance. And above the ocean... a huge, looming bank of black storm clouds, steadily being driven in their direction by an insistent wind.

"Shit," they both agreed in unison.

"So... how far have we got to go before we make camp?"

Cloud grimaced. "We don't want to be anywhere on this mountain when that hits."

It was a long way down.

"Shit," Zack repeated.

It was a long way down, and not the most enjoyable journey. Trying to move quickly down the rocky path took a lot of effort, and mostly resulted in a lot of slipping and skidding. Cloud had the advantage of being familiar with mountainous terrain, but also the disadvantage of carrying all his gear. In the end they were pretty evenly matched.

As much as they tried, the rain would not be outrun. It met them head-on, a thick heavy drizzle that didn't feel so terrible but soaked them through in minutes. Distant thunder heralded much worse to come.

Cloud gave up trying to reach the foot of the mountain. They were far enough down, and it wasn't nearly as steep on this side of the slope. There was enough flat ground for a tent. That was all he needed.

The tent made it up in record time, and they both bundled inside the second they could.

"Yeuch," Zack decided.

Cloud nodded in agreement, the movement shaking droplets of water of the ends of his hair. He had at least brought a waterproof for himself and the pack, and though he was still significantly damp, it was nothing compared to Zack, who was soaked to the bone.

"Here." Cloud located a travel towel somewhere in the depths of his pack and passed it over to Zack. "You need this more than me. And, uhm... I don't know if it would fit, but I've got a spare t-shirt if you want something dry to wear."

Zack accepted both. It took an awkward amount of flailing to get changed inside the tiny space, but they managed with only one arm (Zack's) to the face (Cloud's). The t-shirt Cloud had donated was one that was quite large on him and always hung loose and baggy when he wore it. On Zack it was close to being a tight fit, particularly across the shoulders. He had only brought one change of trousers - and those definitely wouldn't fit Zack - so Cloud had dibs on those, as well as a second spare shirt.

Zack shucked his combat trousers off and seemed content to sit around in his boxers. Those were damp as well and clung to him in a way that left very little to the imagination, and Cloud didn't know where to look. He quickly busied himself with sorting out dinner.

He had a portable stove with him, just a fold-out metal box really. Cloud opened up the front of the tent, propping the door up with a set of collapsible walking poles to make a small porch-like area. He sat cross-legged within the shelter of the tent proper, setting the stove up just outside in the tiny area of shelter.

Zack peered curiously over Cloud's shoulder as he mixed a dollop of petroleum jelly into a ball of cotton wool and fluffed the combination together. He dropped in into the stove box and set it alight with the first strike of a very worn fire steel.

"You've done this before," Zack commented. SOLDIERs were issued materia, and a Fire1 spell was his normal method of starting a fire. It was cute, sort of nostalgic to see it done the old fashioned way, and Cloud was impressively efficient at it.

"Pretty often, yeah." Cloud drew out a bag of wooden pieces, little fragments and offcuts. He started feeding them into the fire. "I figured we might need some decent dry fuel in case it decided to piss down with rain at some point," Cloud answered to Zack's unspoken question.

"No wonder your pack is so huge. Is there anything you don't have in there?"

Cloud shrugged. "I like to be prepared."

Dinner was soup, of the powdered just-add-water variety. Cloud heated it in a mess tin, alternating between stirring it and feeding the quick-burning little stove, all the while trying not to think about the SOLDIER shuffling around in the tent behind him. Zack was humming some tune or other that was lost under the echo of rain.

Cloud bit his lip. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Zack's company. Ever since Modeoheim, Zack had seemed to be there, smiling, offering out a hand in friendship. And Gaia knew Cloud needed a friend. But just a friend. What he did not need was some stupid unrequited crush, and he could already tell that was exactly what he was going to end up with. Zack was so sweet and charismatic, not to mention... very attractive. Cloud knew where his interests lay. But it was stupid. Was he really that pathetically lonely that he'd start crushing on the first person who showed him any kindness?

No. It wasn't happening. Cloud wasn't going to let it happen. It was easy to forget out here, but Zack was still a SOLDIER and a superior officer. Cloud was going to be  _professional_ , damnit, and keep a respectful distance in their relationship. Friendly conversation was fine. Getting distracted by the sight of the man in just his underwear and a too-tight t-shirt was definitely, definitely not.

This was going to be a long week.

Cloud poured the first batch of soup into a thermos flask and passed it back to Zack. "Here. Hopefully it will help warm you up a bit too."

Zack seemed amused by this comment. "It takes more than a bit of rain to take down a SOLDIER. I'm not cold." He took the flask gratefully anyway. Cloud could see the goosebumps on his arms.

He set another packet of soup heating for himself while Zack slurped away.

"Delicious," Zack hummed happily.

Cloud snorted. "It's powdered soup. Not exactly a taste sensation."

"Maybe it's just one of those things. Y'know, like how food always tastes better when you have a hot meal on a cold, rainy day, or in the company of a friend," Zack grinned.

"You're so full of bullshit," Cloud commented, though not unkindly.

"...hey, Cloud."

"Mm?"

"We are friends, right?"

Cloud turned to find Zack's eyes on him, open and earnest, and that damn smile on his face that made Cloud's heart feel like it was breaking all over again.

"Yeah... yeah, we're friends."


	3. Day Three

**DAY THREE**

The worst of the storm passed during the night, leaving only a fine mist of drizzle for the two campers to wake up to. Needless to say, none of their clothes had made any progress in drying. Everything was damp. Zack was left with the always enjoyable task of putting on wet trousers, though the disgusted face he made did cause Cloud to snigger on an otherwise dreary morning.

They set off downhill again with little preamble. The weather alternated between thick cloud cover and drizzling, and Zack mournfully announced that he missed Gongagan summer.

It was as they drew close to the bottom of the slope that Cloud saw a familiar and welcome sight. "Cloudberries," he exclaimed happily.

"Cloudberries?"

Cloud nodded, identifying a shrubby bush dotted with little red fruits. He picked a few ripe ones off and tasted them. "Yeah, definitely cloudberries. We have these in Nibelheim. Maybe they're called something different here?"

"Huh. All this time I thought you were named after the fluffy white things in the sky, but maybe you were actually named after a berry all along."

Cloud threw one of said berries at him.

Zack laughed and picked a couple for himself. "They're nice," he concluded.

"Glad you think so. This is breakfast."

The entire section of the trail was lined by a mixture of tall strawlike grass, nettles, and the cloudberry bushes. They ate as they walked along, just reaching out and plucking the berries as they went. In the end they managed a good couple of handfuls each.

Zack licked sticky berry juice off his fingers. "So, what other useful stuff do you have in Nibelheim that I've never heard of?"

Cloud didn't mind the invitation to talk about his hometown; about the mountains, the flora and fauna, the things that didn't always try to kill you. About how there were whole cave systems and mako fountains. In winter the entire place was buried under snow for three months solid.

He only talked about the area itself though, never about what it was like growing up there. A fact that Zack didn't miss. He figured it was kind of a sore subject, from Cloud's brief mention of not getting along with the other kids there, but he wanted to know.

"Did you ever have a girlfriend back in Nibelheim?" Zack asked casually.

Cloud snapped his mouth shut. "Yeah right," was his only answer. He didn't elaborate, so Zack nudged him.

"C'mon, really? There wasn't even anyone you fancied?"

"Nibelheim is a shitty town full of shitty people," Cloud deadpanned. "Except for my mom. And there was one girl about my age who was kind of cool, I guess, but she wanted nothing to do with me, so." Cloud shrugged. "End of story."

Zack hummed thoughtfully. "Well, there's not that many women around our way in ShinRa, but I reckon I could fix you up a date with one of the cute receptionists or something."

Cloud spluttered, and Zack had to laugh at the look of abject horror on his face. "Not interested," Cloud finally managed.

"Aw, c'mon. There must be someone you're interested in. Girl? Boy? You can tell me."

Cloud glowered. He did not want to talk about this. He decided to turn it around; let Zack be the one to talk about relationships and shit. He'd be better at it. "What about you then? I bet you must have someone."

It was only after asking the question that Cloud realised he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer. But so what if Zack was taken? It wasn't like Cloud had a crush on him, he'd already decided he didn't.

"Nope. Not at the moment," Zack admitted, not sounding displeased by this fact.

"How is that possible?" Cloud asked, honestly bewildered. "You could have anyone you wanted."

Zack laughed. "I don't want just anyone, though. I wanna find someone special. But... I do have my eye on someone."

Cloud felt himself deflate. "Oh."

They steered clear of matters of the heart after that. The path led them to cut across the plains, but what had looked like grassy fields turned out to be mostly bog. Very wet, expansive bog.

Cloud slipped and cursed as his boot vanished into the watery muck again. He sighed and apologised to Zack, who was in much the same situation, but Zack just shrugged. "Not like I could get any wetter at this point anyway," he noted mildly.

Cloud had soon caught up to Zack in terms of not being able to get any more wet. He didn't even bother trying to keep to the higher, solid ground anymore, opting to squelch grumpily along the shortest route possible. It was a fairly successful - if soggy - tactic, until Cloud found himself suddenly up to his thighs in the bog. Cloud groaned.

"Shit, Cloud! Stay still, I'll grab you."

"I'm fine, Zack." Cloud tested his range of movement, trying to lift one foot at a time. The bog really didn't want to let go.

Zack reached out a hand for Cloud, stepping forward to lean in and grab his wrist, only to have his leg vanish beneath him into the same deep patch of bog as well.

"...crap."

Cloud had to snigger at the absurdity of the situation. Zack had one leg stuck as deep as Cloud was, but the other leg was still up on higher ground, only just above ankle deep. It was quite the awkward position. Zack tried to push himself back up onto the shallow area, but only succeeded in pushing both feet deeper.

"Y'know," he said thoughtfully, "I think I remember seeing a documentary once. These people got trapped and sucked down into a bog, and they turned into really well-preserved mummies when they died."

Cloud closed his eyes. "Wonderful. The archaeologists can all laugh at our stupidity when they dig us up in a few hundred years."

"...you're not sinking, are you?"

"I don't think so."

Zack nodded. "Well, that's a good start."

Cloud just sighed. "I'm sorry. This whole hike was a dumb idea."

"Aww, don't say that. We just need to..." Zack trailed off, all concentration as he reached for a nearby tree, searching for some anchorage to pull himself out with. He crowed in triumph as his fingers closed firmly around a branch, only to have it snap straight off in his hand. Completely dead. "Damn."

It was the only plausible tactic they had, though. Both of them scrabbled for purchase on something solid. The trees around them were either dead and liable to break or too far away, but Cloud managed to grab a root just beneath the water and tangled marsh weed.

Climbing out was even more messy than falling in had been. Cloud was practically on his hands and knees, precariously crawling his way onto more solid ground. The only part of him that had survived without getting soaked, splashed, or otherwise muddy was his pack, safe up and out of the way on his back.

Cloud anchored an arm firmly around a tree (the trunk was solid enough for that, at least) and offered his hand to Zack, who was just behind him but not quite out yet. His boots pulled free with a reluctant squelch.

They each breathed twin sighs of relief, then burst into laughter.

Thankfully, it wasn't more than half an hour of plodding before they reached firmer ground, though even that was half an hour more than they would have liked. They'd turned south-east from the foot of the mountain and now finally met the river. The land seemed to be used for livestock grazing here - there were a few cows pottering about not too far off - and though it was spattered with patches of marsh weed it didn't seem too boggy.

Any kind of discernible trail had vanished in the marshes, but they didn't need on at this point. The goal was just to follow the river eastwards. They paused briefly for a late lunch, but otherwise pressed on, taking advantage of the easier going to make up for time lost in the bog.

The clouds cleared away into dappled sunlight, which went a long way towards drying them out, though their boots still squelched with every step and would for a while. The improvement in weather went a long way towards raising their spirits as well.

It also raised Cloud's inclination for conversation. During the course of the afternoon they learned all sorts of useless trivia. Who each other's favourite bands were, the worst movies they'd ever seen, what sort of books they liked. Zack was horrified to discover that there were no fast food chain restaurants in Nibelheim... though he confessed there weren't any in Gongaga either when Cloud questioned him further. At least they had had greasy, deep-fried chicken though, a statement which promptly led on to further animated discussion on their favourite foods, and what they would kill to eat right then.

They very effectively made themselves hungry, and Cloud decided they'd gone far enough to make camp.

Being a pleasant evening, Zack insisted on making his own shelter again, even though Cloud offered him a space in the tent. This time Zack spent an age painstaking building a tipi-like structure around a tree. Cloud got the distinct feeling that Zack just like playing around at building things with sticks. It was sort of adorable.

While Zack was occupied, Cloud collected as much dry wood as he could find and had soon built them a roaring campfire. He hung up the spare and still-damp clothes nearby for drying purposes and set about preparing to MREs for their dinner. He offered a mess tin of meatballs and marinara sauce to Zack as soon as he was finished with his shelter.

"Mm. ShinRa field rations," Zack said, plonking down beside Cloud and the fire. "Haven't had these in a while."

"Really? We always get this stuff on missions. You guys get something else?"

"Once you get promoted to SOLDER, ShinRa'll usually pay for you to stay in an inn and eat there for longer missions."

"Damn. SOLDIERs get spoiled rotten."

Zack laughed. "You should see some of the stuff Seph gets. But he actually prefers these MREs and things to all the fancy shit. Funny how it works like that."

Cloud had indulged in one luxury for his trip though. Zack grinned from ear to ear when Cloud brought out the marshmellows.

"What, you didn't expect me to have a campfire without marshmellows to toast, did you?"

"I like the way you think, Cloudy."

They stuffed themselves with toasted sugary goodness until they couldn't eat any more, then flopped down onto the ground beside the fire. Darkness had finally fallen, and the cloudless night offered them a brilliant view of the stars.

"It's so clear out here," Cloud breathed. "Like being back at home."

"Yeah... you don't see many stars in Midgar."

Cloud smiled wryly. "Sometimes I look up at the sky when I'm stuck on night guard duty and I think I see a star, but it's usually just a helicopter."

Zack chuckled. He raised an arm up, tracing a picture out of the patterns in the sky.

"Do you know the constellations?" Cloud asked.

"Not really," Zack admitted. He pointed to where he had been drawing. "That looks like an upside-down frying pan though."

Cloud laughed.

"How about you?" Zack returned. "Do you know any of them?"

"No. Upside-down frying pan is about my level of astronomy." Cloud paused to stare at the sky a little more. "Are we talking about the small flat frying pan, or the bigger one over there that's more of a saucepan?"

"It's next to the big triangle."

"I see, like, twenty triangles."

"To the left of the rhombus," Zack tried.

"Oh, I got it. Next to the cuboid pac-man, right?"

Zack hummed thoughtfully, though he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "I dunno. But that - see that, right there? That is definitely a great big dick in the sky."

Cloud cracked up."We must be the worst stargazers ever," he managed to get out between fits of giggling.

Zack just smiled at him. Cloud was so damn cute when he laughed. "We probably are," he agreed, then yawned. "I should probably hit the sack, though, before I start seeing constellations of raging tentacle monsters or something."

Cloud snorted. "Yeah, that would be terrible."

Neither of them actually made any move to get up, though. They slipped into silence, listening to the crackling of the campfire, watching the embers drift lazily upwards as if trying to join the stars.

"...hey, Zack?"

"Mm?"

"I'm really glad you decided to come along after all." Cloud kind of regretted the words as soon as he said them, because, wow, shit, that sounded so dumb and sappy. But then Zack took Cloud's hand and all his thoughts juddered to a halt.

"Me too," Zack said. And Cloud didn't know what to do, because Zack was holding his hand, and wasn't that a romantic sort of gesture? It felt like it, especially given that it was just the two of them, lying together under the stars.

But Cloud couldn't bring himself to draw his hand away, and they stayed like that until Zack finally said goodnight and retreated to his shelter. He brushed his thumb over Cloud's knuckles as he released his hand.

Cloud lifted his hand to his mouth, lips grazing where Zack had touched. Shit. So much for not developing a crush. All it took was one stupid little gesture and Cloud was smitten.

He sat up and went through the motions of stocking up the fire with enough wood to last through the night. Just carry on as normal. He didn't even know what Zack was thinking, and it was stupid to let what was probably just a friendly touch get to him like that. He did not have a crush. He did not have a crush, and if he did, he sure as hell wasn't going to acknowledge it.

Cloud crawled into his tent and settled down to sleep, repeating it like a mantra as he lay awake.

He did  _not_  have a crush on Zack Fair.


	4. Day Four

**DAY FOUR**

Cloud announced their fourth day of walking was going to be a short one, giving them some much needed time to rest up before tackling the next mountain. Their only goal was to cross the river at some point.

The weather held bright and sunny, with only a few drifting tufts of cloud in the sky. They had to skirt one or two patches that threatened to be boggy, but otherwise the ground was flat and firm and made for a very pleasant morning's walk.

No mention was made of the hand holding thing.

By lunchtime they had made it back to the edge of the mountain range, where the river cascaded down from the rocky heights above in a series of plunging waterfalls. Right beneath the final fall the water was deep and wide, a huge pothole carved out by the force of the descending river.

Just downstream from there the river turned shallow again, low enough at this time of year to be pocked with jutting rocks. Easy enough to make their way across, although the rocks were not very conveniently placed. The water was no deeper than knee height in the places without stepping stones, so they just took off their boots and rolled up their trousers and waded through.

On the other side, Cloud declared their task achieved and picked a nice area close to the river to make camp and share out lunch.

Zack noticed him frowning slightly as he looked through their food supplies.

Lunch was more bland protein bars. Once they had finished eating, they both found themselves laying down on the grass, bathing in the warm, welcome sunlight.

Zack yawned. "This would be an amazing place to take a nap." Cloud sniggered at him, and Zack actually went to the effort of cracking one eye open. "I'm serious! No one ever appreciates naps when they're young, then suddenly you're an adult and would absolutely love to be allowed to nap whenever."

Cloud hadn't really thought about it, but had to admit Zack did sort of have a point. "Alright, then. You enjoy your nap time. I'm going to see if I can forage us up some extra food or something. This looks like a good sort of area for more of those berries."

Zack hummed a content affirmative. Cloud left his pack with him and left him to it.

A good stock of berries was not immediately forthcoming, but Cloud didn't mind. It was a good opportunity to scout out their path ahead - they'd diverted off the marked trail some time ago, and Cloud had to admit he wasn't entirely sure where they needed to start heading up the mountain to rejoin it. He had a general idea, but the last thing he wanted to be doing was walking around in circles and back-tracking all over the place while carrying all his heavy gear.

Eventually, Cloud managed to locate both the path and a smattering of berry bushes. They weren't as prolific here, so it took a bit of searching around, but in the end Cloud successfully came away with a small carrier bag filled with several handful of blackberries, wild raspberries and more of the little cloudberries.

Along the way back he gradually filled up a second bag with wood sorrel and other edible leaves; the sort of stuff they could made a salad out of. Not that salad would be very filling in itself, but it would make their meals stretch further. Maybe they could get away with sharing one MRE between the two of them instead of using two each time. Cloud had only packed enough for himself, and the supply was dwindling at an alarming rate.

The foraging trip had taken a good few hours, and by the time Cloud got back it was verging on late afternoon. Zack had been busy while he'd been gone. There was a new shelter built; this one was a freestanding kite shape, with two long walls and one short, with the last wall open as a door.

(Zack later informed Cloud that this type of shelter was sometimes known as a two-man dog kennel, a fact which amused Cloud greatly. Cloud told Zack it suited him and received a wounded look for the effort.)

He had also put up Cloud's tent for him and gathered a stack of branched ready to use for a campfire, and even appeared to have done some laundry as well. His SOLDIER combats and Cloud's spare trousers and shirts had been cleaned of mud in the river and were hanging up to dry in the afternoon sunlight.

As for Zack himself... Cloud stopped and stared. Zack had apparently decided to go swimming in his absence. He was stripped down to his boxers, which were soaked through and doing that clinging thing again and  _gods_  Zack had an amazing ass.

This was only emphasised by the way he was crouching down, toes right to the edge of a rock part way out into the water, peering intently into the depths of the plunge pool. Cloud could see the tension in the sculpted lines of Zack's shoulders and back. He didn't move a muscle, but he was ready to pounce at a split-second's notice.

Cloud swallowed. "Uhm, what...?"

Zack shushed him, still not budging an inch. Cloud had never seen him so still. "Fishing," was Zack's only explanation.

Oh. That... sort of made sense? "I'm not sure you can catch fish by hand like that," Cloud said dubiously.

"Have a little faith, Cloud. I'm a SOLDIER."

Cloud didn't even see Zack move.

One second he had been sat on his rock, the next there was nothing but a splash to indicate his passing. Holy  _fuck_. Cloud knew SOLDIERs had quick reflexes, but that was something else.

Zack's head broke the surface, and he was grinning like a maniac. He struggled to keep hold of the fish he'd managed to grasp, finally managing to knock its head on a rock. It was a decent size fish as well, the length of Cloud's forearm.

Okay, Cloud had to admit... that was impressive. He was impressed. A lot. He couldn't wait to make it to SOLDIER.

Zack hoisted himself out. Little rivulets of water rolled down his shoulders, across his collarbones, dripping down his chest and the defined lines of his toned stomach. Cloud almost got hit in the face by a dead fish, too busy staring to realise Zack had tossed it to him.

"Dinner," Zack grinned.

Cloud fumbled for a decent grip on the thing. "...thanks." He couldn't think of anything more eloquent to say, but Zack just kept on grinning, so damned pleased with himself. He returned to his catching spot for another go.

That left Cloud with the job of preparing and cooking the thing. Not hard, really; he knew what he was doing and all he needed was his knife. He was grateful to have something to do. It gave him something to focus on that wasn't how attractive Zack was.

Because Zack was amazingly attractive, and it was completely unfair for him to be waltzing around half-naked and soaked through. Cloud grit his teeth. He couldn't get the image out of his head, and that was just annoying because he'd already been through this. He couldn't have a crush on Zack Fair. He just  _couldn't_. But Zack was making it so damn difficult not to.

Cloud beheaded the fish with more force than was strictly necessary.

Zack's first catch must have been a fluke, or maybe he got cocky after that, because his next attempts yielded nothing. Cloud had enough time to gut the fish, top and tail it, and remove the spine and all the bones. He had it laid out and was carefully manoeuvring it into place when Zack came over to give him a second fish.

Zack knelt down curiously at Cloud's side. "What are you doing?"

He had never seen the sort of set up that Cloud had. The fish had been cut and flattened out into a massive fillet. It was held between two halves of long, thick stick, split vertically down the middle. Three smaller sticks, sharpened and stripped of bark, held the sides of the fillet out horizontally.

"I'm going to panasse it," Cloud explained.

"Gonna do what now?"

Cloud shooed Zack away. "You'll see in a bit. Go get a fire started, would you?"

Zack did as he was directed. (He started the fire with materia, and if Cloud muttered 'cheat' under his breath it was only good-naturedly.) Cloud made short work of preparing the second fish. Soon both of them were propped up over the crackling fire to cook.

"They're pretty decent size fish," Cloud said, wiping his hands on his trousers and sitting back to admire his handiwork. "It might take a while for them to cook. Forty minutes, maybe?"

"Good. Plenty of time for a swim then." Cloud turned to find Zack smiling at him expectantly. "You are coming in, right?"

Zack phrased it as a question, but it wasn't one at all. It was more of an order. Cloud soon found himself stripped down to just his boxers as well and wading into the river.

"Shiva's tits, Zack, this is freezing!"

Cloud stood in the shallows of the deep pool area, furthest away from the waterfall. He was up to his thighs in the water. He didn't want to go in any further than that; there were certain sensitive parts that he didn't fancy submerging in icy coldness.

Zack laughed at him and grabbed Cloud's hands. "C'mon, mountain boy. You should be used to this."

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Don't you dare-"

Zack pulled him in. Cloud gasped at the shock of the cold, but Zack was right. He was a mountain boy, and it didn't take long for him to get used to the temperature. He quickly retaliated by splashing Zack full in the face.

This time Zack was the one who narrowed his eyes. "Oh, it's on."

It was entirely possible that going up against a SOLDIER in a splash fight was not the best idea in the world. Especially when it was only half splash fight, and the other half devolved into some kind of underwater wrestling. Cloud got the feeling he lost severely, but they were both too busy laughing to take any of it seriously anyway.

It was fun. It was the most fun Cloud had had in months; ShinRa wasn't exactly an environment that fostered playing about for the pure joy of it. When they finally got tired, Cloud was out of breath and his mouth hurt from smiling too widely.

He flopped back into the water, content to lie there and float while Zack paddled around.

"Hey, Cloud, come check this out!" Zack called from just front of the falls. He promptly disappeared behind the white curtain of water.

Cloud's curiosity was piqued. He followed Zack's lead, wincing a bit at the strength of the pounding spray. That was one hell of a power shower. He came out the other side into a little cavern. Cavern was giving it too much credit; it was just a little hollow, really, deep enough to get them out of the spray but not much more than that.

It was still a nice little spot, though, and Cloud told Zack as much.

"I know. This place is awesome," Zack sighed happily. Cloud wasn't sure if he was talking about this spot in particular, the river where they had set up camp, or about the hike and locale in general.

Cloud smiled. "This is why I love coming out into the middle of nowhere. You find all sorts of amazing things that hardly anyone else knows about." He didn't think this was a particularly strange thing to say, but when he turned he found Zack staring at him. "What?"

"I've never seen you smile so much before," Zack said softly. "It suits you, you know."

Cloud tried to look away, embarrassed by the compliment and not sure what to say, but Zack hooked a finger beneath his Cloud's chin and turned him back to face him. He didn't say anything else, though. He just leant in and kissed Cloud.

Zack kissed him. Zack was kissing him, and it was sweet and soft, experimental. He drew back to gauge Cloud's reaction.

Cloud spluttered, blushing furiously and adorable in his confusion. "Why did you... I thought... didn't you say you had your eye on someone?"

"I was talking about you, numbskull," Zack chuckled, then kissed him again.

Cloud didn't resist. Gaia, why had he ever thought he needed to resist in the first place? Zack's mouth was pressed against his, warm and insistent, and it only felt right. Cloud melted into the kiss.

Zack's tongue brushed against Cloud's lips, and he gladly parted them to let Zack in deeper. He wrapped an arm around Cloud's shoulders, pulling him in closer up against him. Zack's body heat felt like a furnace against Cloud's chilled skin, and all of a sudden he was acutely aware that both of them were wearing very little clothing and tangled in a rather intimate embrace. Their lips finally parted, and Cloud struggled to remember how to breathe.

"I- I'd better go check on the fish," Cloud stammered as he broke away clumsily, inwardly cursing himself for getting so ridiculously flustered. As he made his way out through the waterfall, he actually found himself grateful for it being so damn cold. The last thing he needed was to embarrass himself any further.

Zack gave Cloud a few minutes of space, so by the time he emerged from the water Cloud had towelled himself dry and was dressed again, inspecting the readiness of their dinner.

Cloud gave Zack a shy smile, and Zack returned the look with a grin that was hopeful, friendly and suggestive all in one. He didn't push the matter though, especially since Cloud announced that the fish were cooked.

Dinner was absolutely amazing, they both agreed. They had a wild salad dotted with berries, and as much hot, fresh fish as they could possibly stuff themselves with. Cloud claimed that panassing over an open fire was the best way ever to cook fish, and Zack didn't doubt him in the slightest.

Cloud's newly rekindled shyness didn't last, and they passed the evening easily shooting the bull and laughing. Much to Zack's disappointment, the evening had come over overcast and they weren't able to see the stars. Cloud told him that was probably for the best.

Yet whenever there was a lull in conversation, Cloud's thoughts were whirring. His mind was filled with Zack's taste, the feel of Zack's lips on his. And what Zack had said, that he'd been talking about Cloud when he'd mentioned having his eye on someone.

It was that he kept getting stuck on. Cloud wasn't that lucky. There was no way he could have someone like Zack interested in him. He'd spent so long telling himself it wasn't possible that it didn't seem real.

But if it was real...

When Zack yawned and stretched, announcing he was ready to turn in for the night, Cloud got up with him.

"Night, Cloudy," Zack smiled.

"Goodnight, Zack."

Cloud leaned in and brushed their lips together. His kiss was hesitant and chaste, but sweet nonetheless.

Afterwards, as he bid a hasty retreat to his tent, all Cloud could see was Zack's gorgeous smile, bright enough to light the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Panassing is a very difficult thing to describe if you've never done it before, and also oddly difficult to find any information on. Searching for 'panassed salmon' only really seems to bring up blogs of schools that attended camps run by the company I used to work for, where I learnt about it in the first place. Huh. Maybe it's not even a thing. I'm so confused now. But whatever, I don't even care if it's a real thing or not. Panasse your fish, guys. It's fucking delicious.
> 
> Since I still haven't found anywhere that explains it, I have now created a rough sketchy guide over on my Tumblr for anyone interested! http://asreoninfusion.tumblr.com/post/104364484515/lets-panasse-some-fish


	5. Day Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Crisis Core canon and DMW scenes referenced in this chapter. It's been a while since I've played the game, so hopefully I've remembered all the little details correctly.

**DAY FIVE**

"Aw, Shiva. More mountains?" Zack mock-complained as they began the next morning's hike.

Cloud laughed. "C'mon, SOLDIER. This one isn't even as high as the last." It wasn't far off though.

As far as mountain climbing days went, it was a good one for the task. The patchy cloud of yesterday evening remained, offering shade without threatening any rain. The going was faster than their first ascent; Cloud was much more used to the weight of his pack now, not to mention that weight had also lessened somewhat with the reduced amount of food he had to carry.

The path wound round north and eastwards up the mountainside, and the breaks between trees offered them a stunning view back across the river and plains where they had just come from. Zack stopped and stared on more than one occasion. They hadn't exactly had time to appreciate the view when they'd been heading down the other mountain in the pouring rain.

"Man, you don't get views like this in Gongaga," Zack announced, stretching in the sunlight.

Cloud snickered.

"What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry," he said, hiding his smile behind the back of his hand. "It's just... your accent suddenly comes out when you say Gongaga. It's really cute."

"Huh. Is that why you laughed when we first met in Modeoheim and I told you where I was from? Did you think it was cute then too?"

Cloud could feel himself starting to blush, but he spoke up anyway. "No. Then I just thought you were gorgeous," he admitted.

"Aww," Zack beamed. "I thought you were a total cutie too."

"And you were so kind. You actually talked to me like a person instead of a lowly infantry grunt, even though we didn't know each other."

"I was impressed that you talked to me like a person as well." Zack leant over and ruffled Cloud's hair. "Hey, don't look so dubious, it works both ways. When you get to SOLDIER, it's like people suddenly think you're above them. You walk into a room and conversation stops, everyone snaps to attention. It's all yessir and no sir. Seph gets it worst, but it happens to all of us. We're still human, just enhanced a bit. People forget that."

Cloud glanced down at the ground. He couldn't deny he'd been guilty of acting that way sometimes, putting any SOLDIER on a pedestal above him. But Zack always managed to joke him out of it soon enough.

"I've never been very good at staying professional around you."

Zack just chuckled knowingly.

"...hey, Zack. Can I ask you a question?"

"Is it in an embarrassing question? You look embarrassed."

"No! I mean- not really, I was just wondering... about yesterday."

Zack stuck his hands in his pockets and grinned. "I'm available for practice if you want more kisses."

"Yes. No. Wait." The offer was extremely tempting, but that wasn't what he had been trying to ask. "You're interested? In me?"

"Duh, Spike."

"Yeah, but... why? I don't get it." And maybe it sounded like he was digging for an ego boost, but Cloud needed to ask. Because he didn't understand it and that scared him. Like maybe there was no reason, and Zack could change his mind at any second.

"Hey." Zack took Cloud's hand and turned him round so they were facing each other. He hooked both arms over Cloud's shoulders. "I know what you're thinking, so stop telling yourself you're not worthy. You're funny and exciting and loyal. You're a total badass and adorable to boot. I've wanted to get to know you better since Modeoheim."

Cloud ducked his head, embarrassed by the compliment, but flattered. He had to raise an eyebrow at the badass comment though.

"Nibel wolf. Kitchen knife.  _Ten_ ," Zack pointed out. "Not to mention you totally had my back that time with the griffon in Modeoheim. And even though you were injured then, you still came charging in to grab Hollander, totally out of nowhere."

"He got away, though."

"Heh. Well. Let's just say you're not the only one Hollander has escaped from. I, for one, am not in any position to hold that against you."

Cloud had to hide his amusement at how sheepish Zack looked. "What, he got away from you too?"

"Yeah. Junon, that time."

"I remember. We'd just come in by helicopter, and I'd run out of motion sickness tablets," Cloud sighed. "I was pretty useless when you ran into me. But you still offered to grab something to eat with me when I was feeling better."

Zack shot him a lopsided grin. "I was asking you out on a date."

"What?" Cloud looked adorably perplexed.

"Guess you didn't realise, huh?"

"No, I never thought... heh. And then those two guys from my unit invited themselves along. No wonder you looked so put out."

"I know! Who just muscles their way in on a guy's date like that?"

Cloud laughed.

"Hey, Cloud. When we get back to Midgar I'll take you out for a bite to eat, my treat. And definitely just the two of us this time."

"A date?"

"Yeah, a date."

"I'd like that."

Cloud held Zack's hand for a long time after that.

They made the summit in time for a late lunch of leftover salad (it was getting squashed being carried around) and cold fish.

The mountain rand ran north to south in this section. They'd come up from the west, and were now at last offered a view of the marshes stretching out to the east. Zack swore he could see a Zolom even from their height.

"They actually get that big?" Cloud sounded doubtful.

"Oh yeah. The fully grown ones are taller than a house. If they lunge for you, run, because they can pick you up in their mouths and shake you around like a rag doll."

"Have you fought one before?"

Zack wrinkled his nose. "Sure. It wasn't exactly pleasant though."

It was just as well they had finished eating by that point, because Zack then went in to great detail on how one of his men had nearly been eaten by a Zolom, escaping by stabbing the thing in the mouth while Zack and the 3rd Class he'd been on the mission with hacked at the serpent's neck. They'd all ended up covered in stinking marsh mud and half-congealed Zolom blood, a combination that cause them to smell like a sewer for the rest of the day.

This soon morphed into a comparison of the worst missions they'd each been on. Cloud had had a week-long training exercise where it tipped down the entire time and turned everything into a complete, inescapable, stagnant mud-bath. It was so bad that some of the guys had ended up with trench foot.

Zack's tales mostly involved horrific monster encounters and the disgusting ways the mutated, deformed creatures had died.

"Lovely," Cloud commented dryly.

Zack elbowed him. "Get used to it. As soon as you get into SOLDIER, all the high-level monster killings jobs are yours."

It wasn't an 'if'. It was 'as soon as'.

Cloud pretended to groan.

They eventually moved on when the wind picked up, making the chill of the mountain top too bitter to be sitting still. They remained high up, following the ridge that connected the peaks in this section of the range. The cloud cover came and went, as it had for most of the day, but up here they found themselves becoming part of the clouds as they blew across.

"This is so cool," Zack declared. He ran his hand through the thick, wet fog, achieving absolutely nothing.

"Literally," Cloud agreed dryly, pulling his jacket tighter around himself.

He was pretty certain the clouds were coming down thicker and with greater frequency as the afternoon progressed, and it was making him uneasy. Simply put, it made their visibility shit. It would be so easy to lose the path like this, or even do something monumentally stupid like walk off the edge of an unseen cliff.

Soon enough the clouds came down and didn't let up again. They should've had an hour or two more to walk, but it was darker than it should have been with the thick mist around them. Cloud reluctantly called them to a halt.

"We're gonna have to find the best cover we can and camp up here," he sighed.

"Is that so terrible?" Zack asked, concerned at Cloud's lack of enthusiasm.

"We're on top of a mountain. There's still snow up here. It's going to be a very, very cold night."

"But you've camped up on mountains before, right? You must have done in Nibelheim."

Cloud scouted around the top of the small plateau area they had found themselves in, eventually finding a small hollow to one side. It was mostly flat and protected from the worst of the wind by a massive boulder. He led them down into it.

"Sure," he replied. "But I quickly learnt in doing so that camping in the mountains requires a much better sleeping bag and quite a few extra thermal layers. None of which I have."

"It's August. It can't be that bad."

Cloud smiled, but the expression was still grim. "Well, we won't die?" he offered.

"Oh, good. Not dying is one of my favourite things to do," Zack said happily.

At least that got Cloud to laugh a little. "We'll be alright. I'm just not looking forward to a night of sleepless shivering."

Even once the tent was set up and they had both bundled inside, it was still barely warmer than the biting chill outside. At least being out of the wind took the edge off.

Cloud started setting up his cooking equipment - soup heated on the stove seemed to be the go-to dinner option when they were better off staying inside the tent - and Zack hummed thoughtfully. He draped himself over Cloud from behind, head on Cloud's shoulder, his arms around Cloud's waist.

"Wha...?"

"SOLDIER body heat blanket. Do you feel any warmer yet?"

Cloud did actually feel a bit warmer, but he wasn't sure how much of that was to do with Zack's body heat and how much it was to do with the fact he was more or less sitting in Zack's lap. Still, neither of them shifted from the position while Cloud cooked. Zack's lips brushed against the back of Cloud's neck, making him shiver. Cloud found himself leaning back into the embrace without really meaning to.

They had to break apart in order to eat, and after that they agreed they might as well call it an early night. Cloud didn't bother to undress at all before crawling into the relative warmth of his sleeping bag. But Zack didn't even have that much, and Cloud frowned. There was no way they could both fit inside the sleeping bag, it just wasn't physically possible. He hadn't brought a spare or any extra covers or anything either. He couldn't just leave Zack to sleep like that, though, even if he insisted he would be fine.

"Okay, I know this is going to look dumb, but don't laugh. I'm serious."

Zack watched curiously as Cloud turned and wriggled so he was half-in, half-out of his sleeping bag, delving into his pack to rummage. He emerged with a folded square of foil and offered it over.

"It's one of those emergency foil heat blankets," he continued as Zack unfolded the thing. "It might not be comfy to sleep under, but it should help keep you warm."

"Huh." Zack lay down and rolled around, bundling himself up in it. "I feel like a trussed-up Christmas turkey," he noted.

"You are a turkey," Cloud retorted.

Zack sniggered and unbundled himself, sitting up to give Cloud a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Well, thank you. It's cute you care so much."

"I just don't want you getting too cold."

Zack didn't bother rehashing the 'I'm a SOLDIER, I don't get cold' line. Cloud was clearly having none of it. "Weeeell..." he said ponderingly. "I might have another idea about how we can keep warm. I'll need to test it out first though."

"Yeah?"

Cloud walked straight into that one. Zack chuckled. He rolled over on top of Cloud and pressed their mouths together.

Cloud's eyes widened briefly in surprise, then fluttered shut as he returned the kiss.

Zack's weight was on top of him, pressing him down as Zack claimed his mouth. Cloud realised that Zack had only been teasing yesterday, testing the waters. This was kiss was so much more, hot and deep and unexpectedly passionate, and Cloud completely lost himself in it. He didn't care that he was moaning into Zack's mouth, or that his fingers had tangled into Zack's hair to hold him close.

Cloud could feel Zack's hands on him, cupping his jaw, rubbing his shoulders, moving lower to stroke his sides. His mouth pulled away to nuzzle at Cloud's throat instead, searching out the spots that made Cloud shiver in pleasure.

"Zack..." Cloud breathed. And then their lips were locked together again, Zack pulling him into a series of scorching kisses that left Cloud panting and desperate for more.

Zack raised himself up on his elbows, surveying the blond beneath him. Cloud was flushed pink, dazed and breathing heavily, his lips red and kiss-swollen. Hot.

Zack pressed the back of his hand to Cloud's forehead as if taking his temperature. "Yep, definitely warmer," he decided. There was a note of strain evident in trying to keep his own breathing even. "There we go. If you get cold in the night, just wake me up and we can make out for a bit. For your own health and safety, of course."

Cloud was still too bewildered to formulate a sensible answer.

Zack grinned at him. "Goodnight, Cloud," he said, gently brushing their lips together in one last, soft kiss. Then he rolled off Cloud and onto his side, pulling the tin foil blanket up over him. He was already pretending to be asleep by the time Cloud's overheated brain had finally caught up.

"You're  _evil_."

Zack's fake snore sounded suspiciously like a laugh.


	6. Day Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware the rating has risen to explicit!
> 
> The last section of this chapter and a massive chunk of the next are smutty, so do be warned.

**DAY SIX**

Cloud was both disappointed and grateful to find Zack wasn't next to him when he woke up. Disappointed because, well, it would have nice, waking up next to his maybe-, possibly-boyfriend. (Cloud wasn't too sure on that point yet.)

But at the same time, he was sort of glad Zack wasn't there. He'd been making out with Zack Fair last night, and the dreams he'd had did not let him forget it. Nor did his embarrassingly obvious morning wood.

Cloud had suffered through enough experience with tents to know that they did absolutely nothing to dampen sound. If Zack was out there, Cloud would be able to hear him. And, likewise, he would be able to hear Cloud.

A brief poke of his head out of the tent proved that Zack wasn't in the immediate vicinity. But he wouldn't have gone far, and could be back at any moment. So it would still be a really, really bad idea to...

Cloud slid a hand beneath his waistband, hissing in pleasure as he touched himself. He pushed his shirt up with his other hand. Shit. He needed to get this over with quickly, before Zack returned and realised what Cloud was up to.

That wasn't difficult. Cloud could imagine it was Zack's hand, stroking him with that perfect amount of tightness in his grip, rolling his balls in his palm, making Cloud gasp. Cloud could still taste Zack's lips on his, feel the heat of this body on top of him, pinning him down as he claimed his mouth. Even if that had been the point, Cloud was embarrassed how quickly the fantasy pushed him over the edge.

He wiped himself down and tried to even out his breathing. Gaia, he'd needed that badly.

It didn't stop him feeling awkward about it though. Cloud busied himself packing down the tent, a task which he had just about completed before Zack reappeared.

"Where did you go off to?"

Zack shrugged. "Reconnaissance? Just looking around, really."

Cloud blinked, but let it go. Some part of him wondered if Zack had woken up with the same problem Cloud had and had gone to take care of it somewhere private... but probably not. The top of a mountain ridge was not the sort of place any sane person would want to jack off.

Fortunately, the morning was much brighter. While there were patches of Cloud around, none of them were low-lying enough to cause any trouble. Which was just as well. After a little reconnaissance of his own, Cloud discovered they had completely overshot the path back down the mountainside.

The Midgar mountain range formed almost a T-junction where the east-west ridge met the north-south ridge. The path down was just to the east of where the ridges joined, descending on the north face. They had managed to miss it entirely in the low visibility and had ended up much further east that Cloud had intended.

It took them a couple of hours to backtrack. Cloud was disconcerted to find that certain sections of the ridge - ones that had seemed easily traversable yesterday evening - were actually a lot narrower than he had thought, and dropped off sharply on either side. It was lucky both of them were sure-footed.

The path down offered them a new and spectacular view to the north. Being a clear day, Kalm was visible in the distance far in front of them, and Midgar was a black smudge to the east. Immediately ahead lay the Kalm pass, with its thin river winding away on the far side. Cloud pointed out the river bend as it turned from east to north, making that their aim for where they wanted to be setting up camp that night.

The lower slopes of the mountain path were populated by more berry bushes and other edible plants. Cloud put his pack down on several occasions, disappearing into the scrub and coming back with small handfuls of lunch.

He caught Zack looking at him curiously when he came back from one such excursion.

"How do you know all of this?" Zack asked. "I don't remember them going into this stuff in basic."

"Nah. My mom taught me. She knows all about herbs and plants and that sort of thing. We were never exactly well off when I was growing up... if we could save a bit of money by growing our own vegetables and foraging up some stuff, why not take advantage of that? Nettle soup is actually really nice."

"Wait, nettles as in the nasty stingy things? As  _soup?_ "

"Yeah, those." Cloud laughed at the look on Zack's face. "They don't sting you once they're cooked."

Zack knew a handful of plants native to Gongaga, but had never had the chance to get familiar with what grew in the cooler mountainous climates. So Cloud taught him to identify a few of the common plants he had been picking, and Zack told him all about the crazy things that grew in the rainforests around where he'd grown up. He used to use the vines as a swing set.

"This is pretty useful stuff," Zack commented. Cloud had just demonstrated how to create an antibacterial plaster by thinly slicing off the top membrane of a mushroom that grew on birch trees. "Why don't they teach it? Especially to the regular infantry. It could save someone's life some day, if a mission went wrong, or someone got stranded on their own, or something."

Cloud shrugged. "Not ShinRa's style, I guess," he suggested. "They're all for storming in and trampling everything underfoot doing things their rigid military way."

"ShinRa could do with a lot less of the storming in and trampling everything in their way," Zack sighed. "Or firebombing it."

There was a note of unexpected bitterness in Zack's voice, and Cloud look at him in surprise. Zack shook off whatever thought had crossed his mind and was back to picking Cloud's brains before Cloud could ask what he'd meant.

Despite being delayed by the morning's detour, they made it to Cloud's appointed campsite in decent time. The evening remained gorgeous and cloudless, and the night looked to be more of the same. Cloud opted not to bother with the tent at all. Instead he spread out the flattened tent skin beneath the minimal shelter of a large oak tree, using it as a ground sheet. He unzipped his sleeping bag all the way and laid it out flat, like a very small duvet over the top of the groundsheet.

Being their last night, it was unanimously decided that a campfire was in order. Cloud even had the remaining marshmellows that they hadn't been able to finish previously, which sealed the deal.

They split the last MRE between them and had toasted marshmellows for dessert. Zack found it vastly entertaining to set his on fire, while Cloud meticulously turned his marshmellow until it was browned to perfection.

Zack kissed Cloud, and Cloud declared that he tasted like burnt sugar.

They lay down and made themselves comfortable on the sleeping bag laid out by the fire. Cloud ended up with his head on Zack's shoulder as they rested side by side, hands clasped.

Cloud would have been content to stay like that forever, but it felt like they barely had any time left at all.

"Back to Midgar tomorrow. It feels like I haven't even used half of my leave yet," he sighed.

"Well, I guess time flies when you're having fun, or however it goes."

"Yeah... it's been fun."

Cloud fell back into pensive silence, watching the fire lick at the darkened sky. Zack's presence beside him was solid and warm. Cloud didn't really care that much about holiday time, and would even be happy to return to training and routine... but being so close to Zack, that would be hard to lose.

Zack rolled over and propped himself on one elbow, looking down at Cloud. "What's up, Cloudy? You're awfully quiet. And don't tell me nothing's wrong," he added when Cloud seemed about to protest. "You've got those sad kitten eyes."

Cloud huffed. Sad kitten eyes, really?

"Now you're just pouting. C'mon, don't make me tickle it out of you."

Cloud raised both hands in surrender before Zack could even try it. Somehow they ended up braced against Zack's chest. "Okay! It's just... will you still want to be with me, when we get back? Like, this isn't just some sort of summer fling or-"

Zack kissed him to make him shut up. "Duh, Cloud. I already told ya, I've been interested in you since Modeoheim. You really think I'm just going to give you up now you're finally mine? For a smart kid, you can be spectacularly dense at times."

Cloud didn't even register the dense comment. He was too busy trying to bite back his smile. "I'm yours?"

"If you want to be."

His grin broke through in full force. Cloud wrapped his arms around Zack's shoulders and pulled him down, crashing their mouths together.

He had only meant to kiss Zack the once, but it was impossible to stop. Cloud was becoming utterly addicted to Zack's kisses; he couldn't bear to break away. Zack's touch was just as intoxicating, his hands sliding under Cloud's shirt, fingers mapping out the taut lines of his stomach, tracing down his hip bones.

They broke apart just long enough to remove each other's shirts.

"Damn," Cloud breathed, voice tinted with jealousy. "Your abs are just not fair."

Zack laughed. "You'll catch up soon enough. Not that you need to. You're gorgeous already." He eyed Cloud hotly, then pulled him back into one of those deep, unrelenting kisses as if to prove the point.

Cloud moaned into Zack's mouth. Every touch felt like electricity against his heated skin, and the things Zack's tongue was doing to him made him squirm in pleasure. Their bodies tangled together, every part touching. He knew Zack must have been able to feel his body's reaction, the hardness of Cloud's growing erection pressed into the SOLDIER's hip, but Cloud was too far gone to care about that.

Zack's hands had wondered lower again, back to settle on Cloud's hips. "Can I?" he asked sweetly, lips brushing against Cloud's next, his fingers teasing at the waistband of Cloud's pants.

"Gaia... yes. Zack. Please."

Funny how only this morning Cloud had been imagining exactly this. His zipper being drawn down, Zack's hand slowly, teasingly inching its way into his boxers. When Zack touched him, Cloud's hips bucked involuntarily. Even Zack's first gentle, experimental strokes, drawing him out, felt a hundred times better than Cloud's own touch.

He got the feeling he would completely lose himself when Zack started jerking him off in earnest, so Cloud had to think quickly. He wanted to make this good for Zack as well.

"Can I?" Cloud echoed, ghosting his fingers over the zipper of Zack's combats.

Zack practically purred. "Definitely."

Cloud returned the favour. It became impossible to think after that. Zack's hand was on his dick, sending heated coils of pleasure through him with every stroke. And his hand was on Zack's dick as well.

Even though he'd never done this for another person before, Cloud wanted to use every trick he knew to make Zack feel as good as he was making Cloud feel. He stroked his thumb over the head of Zack's cock, already beginning to slick with precome. Zack let out a shaky moan.

"H-hey, Cloud," Zack gasped. "Like this..." He shifted his body weight and pulled Cloud up so they were both lying on their sides, pressed together. Zack lined their straining erections up and Cloud bucked his hips forwards, grinding them together. Both men groaned.

"Fuck, Zack..." Cloud's eyes fluttered shut.

Zack hummed a wordless reply, brow furrowed in concentration and pleasure. He fisted his hand around both of their erections, stroking them together. "You too," he encouraged.

It took Cloud a few moments for his overheated brain to understand, but when it did click, Cloud gladly snaked a hand between their bodies to join Zack's. He flung his free arm around Zack's shoulders, and Zack leant down to draw him into a bruising kiss as they jerked off against each other.

It wasn't long before their rhythm started coming apart. Long, slow strokes turned quick and jerky. Cloud rolled his hips against Zack's and cried out. He knew he was being loud but he didn't care at all.

Cloud came first. Zack was only a few rough strokes behind him, and he buried his face into the crook of Cloud's neck, gasping Cloud's name as he released against his stomach. Cloud kept stroking both of them, drawing it out until the post-orgasmic sensitivity became too much to bear.

Zack kissed Cloud again, slow and leisurely now that they had both been satisfied.

"I'm yours," Cloud confirmed, the words slurring slightly in his blissed-out state.

Zack was sure he was grinning just as stupidly as Cloud was as he pushed himself up to sitting. He managed to locate some wet wipes in Cloud's pack with minimal movement but a lot of blind groping. Cloud didn't seem inclined to do anything other than stay relaxed and boneless in Zack's arms, and after a superficial clean up Zack was more than happy to oblige.

"Where d'you want to go?" Zack asked once they were lying in a comfortable embrace again. "When we get back to Midgar, I mean. I have a date to arrange."

Cloud smiled, finding it sweet that Zack was still thinking about that. "Anywhere. Being with you is enough." He didn't care if he sounded cheesy.

"Uh huh. That's very romantic and all, but I know, like, thirty restaurants, and that doesn't narrow it down."

Cloud laughed. "Wutainese?" he suggested.

"Upscale or somewhere under the plate?"

"Under the plate, if you know a good place."

"Done," Zack said and kissed Cloud lazily.

Night had well and truly fallen and the fire was starting to die down, so Cloud reluctantly made the sacrifice of getting up in order to get the flames going again, and to retrieve their shirts to put back on for the sake of warmth. Both of them had been haphazardly tossed aside during the intense make out session.

Zack took it upon himself to find the tin foil blanket while Cloud was up. "Wouldn't want anyone to get cold during the night," he explained cheekily when Cloud raised a questioning eyebrow.

Cloud huffed at the gentle mocking, but it wasn't a bad idea. He lay back down, curling up against the warmth of Zack's chest, the blanket pulled up over the both of them. It crinkled every time they moved, much to Cloud's distaste. "Wonderful. Now we can both look like turkeys," he commented dryly.

Zack sniggered, lopping an arm around Cloud waist to keep him close against him. Cloud had to grin as well. He was still smiling when he finally drifted off to sleep.


	7. Day Seven

**DAY SEVEN**

Cloud woke up with an erection pressed against Zack's thigh.

His eyes immediately shot open, wide awake with mortification. It took him several moments before his sleep-muddled brain remembered that he didn't have any reason to hide it or be embarrassed. Zack was definitely his boyfriend.

Cloud relaxed again and allowed himself to enjoy the warmth and comfort of waking up in someone's arms. He pressed his wide smile into the hollow of Zack's throat. He could actually believe that this was for real in the light of day.

Cloud's fingers rested against Zack's waist where his top had ridden up, tracing meaningless patterns against his skin. Zack shifted in his sleep, and Cloud felt an answering hardness nestle against his hip. Cloud's breath caught.

He wanted it. The realisation struck him like lightning down his spine. Zack - amazing, gorgeous, indomitable Zack - was his boyfriend, and Cloud wanted him.

His soft, needy groan must have been enough to waken Zack, because when Cloud looked up again he found violet eyes staring down at him in sleepy amusement.

"Morning," Zack purred, voice still husky.

"Morning," Cloud returned shyly.

Zack shifted again, and the movement must have brought his attention to the situation of their morning erections. His lazy smile widened into something much more predatory and sexual. Zack rolled his hips, and Cloud's eyes fluttered shut in pleasure.

"I want you," Cloud breathed.

Zack kissed him, a slow, sleepy morning kiss. "Yeah?"

"Mm. Please? I want you..."

Zack grinned. He kissed him again, but this time the kiss was anything but sleepy. Cloud shivered at the sudden intensity of it, and by the time he was let up for air they were both gasping.

"We're gonna need..." Zack made a vague squirting gesture. He may have been wide awake now, but it was still too early in the morning for words. "Lube," he finally concluded.

Shit. Cloud had packed in preparation for a lot of things, but unexpected boyfriends were not a situation he had anticipated. "I have... the vaseline? In with the stove box and fire starting stuff."

Zack thought about it. "We'll have to take it slow, but that should work. What about protection?"

"Don't care," Cloud dismissed immediately. "It's not like you're going to get me pregnant."

"Alright then," Zack chuckled.

Cloud knew where everything was located within his pack, so he opted to be the one to fetch the petroleum jelly. They had mostly kicked off their makeshift blanket during the night anyway, so Cloud messily bundled that up and shoved it underneath the backpack out of the way.

Zack pulled him back into an intimate embrace as soon as Cloud was close enough. He wasted no time in stripping Cloud of his shirt and exploring the expanse of creamy skin revealed. Cloud wasn't sure whether to laugh or moan when Zack rolled his nipples between his fingers.

Deciding it was entirely unfair for only one of them to be shirtless, Cloud slid his hands beneath Zack's top and worked it off him. He stroked feather-light touches down Zack's sides, making Zack shiver with lust. Cloud hooked a finger into the waistband of Zack's pants. "Take them off," he demanded breathlessly.

Zack was happy to oblige, on the condition Cloud was equally as naked. Their remaining clothing was hastily removed and tossed aside.

They tangled together again, much the same way they had been sleeping, only this time they were entirely naked. It was infinitely more sensual, more sexual, and it left Cloud electrified with need. He met every one of Zack's kisses with heated fervour.

Zack's wandering hands moved lower, cupping Cloud's ass, and Cloud hummed encouragement into Zack's mouth. He pulled away from their kiss, playfully capturing Zack's lower lip between his teeth and letting it snap back.

Zack growled low in his throat. His hands spread Cloud's ass, sliding a finger between to rub small, insistent circles against Cloud's entrance. "You want it here?"

"Yes," Cloud hissed.

Zack's hands vanished, but only momentarily, and when they returned the finger teasing at Cloud's hole was oily and slick.

Cloud breathed in sharply as Zack pushed it inside him.

"Shh, just relax," Zack murmured. His other hand rubbed soothing circles against the small of Cloud's back.

It wasn't difficult to take just a finger, especially with Zack being as careful as he was. It was just new and strange. The sensation made Cloud want to squirm.

Zack rubbed something inside him that sent a jolt of pure pleasure straight to Cloud's cock. Cloud cried out and grabbed Zack's shoulders.

"Ohh. Do that again..."

Zack chuckled. He claimed Cloud's mouth as he obliged the request, swallowing his moans. Cloud barely even noticed when one finger became two. He felt the stretch of the third as a dull ache, but Zack took Cloud's cock in his other hand and any pain was lost entirely under the new pleasure.

Zack withdrew his fingers, kissing Cloud's throat tenderly. "Think you're ready?"

"Mm," Cloud confirmed, sounding slightly dazed. "But I want to..." He didn't seem to be able to find the words, so he just laid a hand on Zack's chest and used it to roll him over onto his back. Cloud moved down to hover over Zack's thighs, over Zack's cock, staring down in reverence. "Let me get it wet for you?"

As if anyone could say no to that.

Cloud's blowjob technique was inexperienced, uncertain. But he had Zack's dick in his mouth and nothing else mattered. It was hot and wet, and Zack groaned when Cloud tongued his leaking slit, tasting him.

"Tighter... suck a bit... hnng, fuck, Cloud!"

Cloud would have been grinning if his lips weren't stretched wide around Zack's length. He followed Zack's instructions to the letter, swallowing around him, and he felt Zack's cock buck in his mouth for his effort.

"Ohh, shit," Zack groaned. He dragged Cloud up off him and back up his body. Cloud pouted. But the new position he had been pulled into had him straddling Zack's hips, with his boyfriend's dick hard and wet and nestled against Cloud's ass, and maybe Cloud wouldn't complain about cutting short his blowjob after all.

"I want you," Cloud repeated, pressing back into Zack's arousal.

Zack wrapped an arm around Cloud's waist and rolled them over so that Cloud was on his back, ass raised slightly and legs spread, while Zack was kneeling above him. Neither of them wanted to wait any more.

Zack hastily slicked himself with a little extra vaseline, and then his cock was pressing up against Cloud's entrance. Cloud cried out as Zack penetrated him.

It was slow and deep. Even once Cloud had adjusted, writhing on Zack's cock as he begged him to move, Zack didn't speed up.

He took Cloud with long, torturous rolls of his hips, so deep inside that Cloud felt like he would break. Drawing it out until they both lost all sense of time, until they forgot anything at all existed outside of each other.

When Cloud finally reached his peak, it wasn't an explosion so much as a roll of thunder, submerging him completely beneath waves of pleasure until he was a trembling, gasping wreck.

Zack dropped his head, resting it on Cloud's shoulder as he panted heavily in the aftermath of his own orgasm. "Shit. Sorry," he mumbled, the words half lost against Cloud's skin.

"Mmm. For what?"

"Came inside... I shoulda asked if it was okay first."

Cloud could feel it, the warmth of Zack's seed trickling down his ass as Zack pulled out. It was dirty, and incredibly hot. Cloud smiled, squirming a little. "I like it."

'Like it' was an understatment for everything.

They were both entirely content to stay like that, naked and tangled up with each other, exchanging sweet kisses and caresses, quiet words and laughter.

Only the touches turned into groping before long, and the kisses became heated, and Cloud soon found himself straddling Zack again, that thick, throbbing cock filling him up so completely as Cloud rode Zack hard.

It was nearly midday by the time Cloud shook himself from his exhausted, incredibly satisfied doze. He squinted up at the sky, realising just how high the sun had risen.

"Shit," Cloud groaned lowly, stretching out. His body ached, but it was a pleasant sort of ache. Cloud found himself revelling in the feeling.

"How's your ass?" Zack asked, voice heavy with sleep, his face half-buried in their sleeping bag duvet. He was cute in post-sex doziness.

"Not too bad. But it's getting late and we've still got the whole walk back to Midgar to do."

"Ohhh. Shit," Zack agreed.

Cloud reluctantly got up to retrieve their clothing. He would have been content to stay like that forever, naked in Zack's arms, out in the sunlight and fresh air. They could've lazed around all day... maybe had sex a few more times as well. Cloud grinned at the thought.

But reality was a harsher mistress than that, so Cloud got dressed and packed up the few little bits they'd got out of the pack. He needed to roll up the sleeping bag, but Zack was still lying on it. Cloud sniggered as he attempted to pull it out from under him, much to Zack's displeasure.

"C'mon," Cloud chided. "We'd better get a move on if we want to reach Midgar by nightfall."

Zack stretched, naked, and Cloud was treated to an utterly delectable view. His mouth went dry, and Cloud swallowed hard.

"Does that mean I have to put clothes on?" Zack frowned.

"Unless you want to walk into Midgar butt naked, yes." Cloud was quite impressed at how even his voice had come out.

"Eh. I'm pretty sure it's been done before. This is Midgar we're talking about."

Cloud tossed Zack's trousers into his face, trying not to grin. "Put some pants on."

The route back to the city was straightforward enough, and on blissfully flat ground. Cloud let Zack carry his pack.

It was easy to tell when they were getting close to the city. The sky darkened with pollution, and the grass grew brown and brittle underfoot before vanishing entirely. The air smelt of chemicals and smoke. Cloud sighed. He was still a country boy at heart; the city's landscape held no appeal.

They didn't talk much once they were back within the walls, but Zack held Cloud's hand for the entire of the train journey up to the plate.

Zack was allowed straight into the ShinRa headquarters building - he was still in uniform, after all, and all he needed to do was wink at the receptionist to be let past - but Cloud was forced to dig out his ID card to prove he was actually meant to be there. Unfortunately, it had managed to migrate to the very bottom of the over-filled pack. Zack hung around to ease Cloud's embarrassment as he searched for it, but he wasn't much help since he just stood there sniggering.

"I wonder if they'd just let me vouch for you?" Zack suggested after he got bored of it.

Cloud shot him a murderous glare. He'd just found the ID.

They were both waved through into the lobby, and Cloud had to admit he wasn't sure what to do at that point. Did they just say their goodbyes and go their separate ways? Zack had offered to let Cloud hang out at his apartment for a bit, but it was already late and reveille was at 0500 hours. It would be infinitely more sensible to stay in the barracks for the night.

What Cloud really wanted to do was kiss Zack goodnight, but they were in the lobby of ShinRa's headquarters where absolutely anyone could see them. Cloud didn't know how secret their relationship was meant to be, but he figured that blatantly flaunting fraternization between a SOLDIER and an infantry private would be a bad idea either way.

Silence fell like an omen of doom. An entire lobby's worth of people hushed instantly, until the only sound was the tap of leather boots on polished marble as Sephiroth stalked towards them.

"Zack Fair," he said in a voice that would have made lesser men run for the hills.

"Oh, hi Seph."

Sephiroth's nostrils flared. "You have been reported as AWOL for the past seven days. Do not 'hi Seph' me."

All the colour drained from Cloud's face in an instant. He remembered that he had thought it strange for Zack to turn up out of nowhere in uniform, but he hadn't honestly imagined that he would have been so utterly  _stupid_.

"You moron," he hissed at Zack's back. "You complete and utter  _moron_ -"

"You have missed eleven briefings and forfeited four potential missions-"

"Even you can't talk your walk out of this one!"

"I have made your excuses to the other department heads-"

"They could kick you out of SOLDIER for this! And they'd be totally justified in doing so."

"-but I still expect you to answer to  _me_."

"Whoa! Guys, guys!" Zack interrupted. "I'm getting stereophonic lectures here. Could you take it in turns, form an orderly queue, maybe? I can't listen to both of you at once."

Cloud was pretty sure he would have dropped dead on the spot if Sephiroth ever looked at him with that much venom. Even Zack wavered.

"Come with me, Zackary."

Zack hastily grabbed a pen off the desk of a horrified receptionist. He grabbed Cloud's hand and scribbled on his palm. "My PHS. Call me tomorrow, yeah? We'll arrange a time for that date."

"If you're still alive tomorrow," Cloud corrected nervously. Sephiroth was was watching the exchange with icy impatience.

Zack apparently didn't share Cloud's qualms about public displays of affection. He leaned in and kissed Cloud full on the mouth. In front of everyone; in front of  _Sephiroth_. "It was worth it."

He turned and winked at Cloud even as he was march off to his doom.

Cloud cradled his hand like a lifeline as he shakily picked his pack back up, blushing furiously to feel all eyes on him. It wasn't until he was in the relative safety and anonymity of the elevator that he turned his hand over to see what Zack had written. The first line was his PHS number, as promised. Then Cloud's heart skipped a beat. Below that Zack had scrawled three more words.

'I love you.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeeeah, Zack's in shit. But I reckon he'd take his punishment and grin and bear it. Obviously ShinRa is not a real-world military organisation, but for those concerned, Google suggests the following as the likely consequence;
> 
> 2) Absence from unit, organization, or other place of duty:  
> b) For more than 3 days but not more than 30 days: Confinement for 6 months and forfeiture of two-thirds pay per month for 6 months.
> 
> In a world of fantasy porn logic, I imagine that Zack manages to get away without the confinement (maybe six months of shitty guard duty shifts instead or something) and keeps his rank, though maybe with the reduction in pay.
> 
> He achieves this by insisting he was on a super-important mission to a) protect the cadet from walking into danger, and b) tap that ass. Mission accomplished on both accounts. And he would talk about Cloud so much and with such a stupid, content grin on his face that Seph eventually became intrigued and agreed to reduce the punishment if Zack arranged for him to sleep with Cloud. So Zack was all 'hey, Cloudy, I've got this idea', and Cloud was like 'wtf' but really turned on by the thought, and then the threesome in my other smutfic Idea happened! :D
> 
> ...that's a complete lie. Idea has absolutely no relation to this fic at all. But it could. In a ridiculous world of porn logic. Hahaha.
> 
> Anyway. The point is Zack'll be alright. XD


End file.
